Information released by the GMC this week shows the regulator, which receives the vast majority of its funding from doctors' fees, has offered its employees private medical insurance since 1997, and now provides it to 480 of its 640 permanent staff across the UK, at an average cost of £583 per employee.

The GMC said its spending on private medical insurance is ‘kept under regular review' and will be reviewed by its resources committee later this year. But grassroots GPs questioned the payments.

Dr Dermot Ryan, a GP in Loughborough, said: ‘I wonder how the GMC can justify this expense. The majority of membership of the GMC is now made up of people that are not doctors, who have little comprehension of medicine or the difficulty in providing medical services.'

'They seem to be going down the Government gravy train of awarding themselves luxuries that the people who provide their salaries can't afford themselves.'

‘I'm looking forward to the day when we have a vote of no confidence in the GMC.'

The issue was also flagged up on the social networking site Twitter by Dr Jonathan Tomlinson, a GP in Hackney, east London, and Dr Phil Hammond, a medical columnist and GP in Bristol.